Jewish Paper Lists “Pope” Francis among 2013’s Most Important American Jews

If only two weeks ago Novus Ordo Watch had stated that Jorge Bergoglio, aka “Pope Francis”, deserves to be honored as one of the most important Jews of 2013, we would have immediately been accused of “anti-semitism”, “spreading hate”, and all the other (by now) meaningless terms typically used by the whiny, brainless, oh-so-tolerant left of various disguises (Mark Shea comes to mind). These people are incapable of taking a real and objective look at issues and analyze them in the light of traditional Catholic teaching, especially when it comes to the topic of Judaism, a veritable Golden Calf (pun fully intended) in the Novus Ordo religion and Western society at large. In fact, a recent Twitter conversation we had with several Novus Ordo adherents about whether the Jewish religion is rejected by God, yielded some most interesting — and appalling — information regarding the state of Novus Ordoism in the United States. We’ll spare you the distressing details.

In its justification for picking the Argentinian antipope, The Forward says:

We didn’t pick Pope Francis as our “Plus One” just to further rattle Catholics concerned that the leader of their church isn’t sufficiently doctrinaire about abortion, gay rights and other touchstone issues. But I imagine that being cited by a Jewish news organization for exemplary contributions to the American Jewish story will not help the pope’s popularity among his more conservative flock.

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Pope Francis, 76, … has an unusually warm relationship with an Argentinian rabbi, has spoken in favor of pluralism and acceptance, plans to visit Israel early next year, and altogether has opened his arms to the world. As we wrote, “Francis has the power to affect how more human beings view the Jewish people than any one else on earth.” And so far, it seems, he’s been doing a pretty good job.

Francis’ affection for the apostate religion of Judaism (which has its origin, not in God’s revelation to Abraham but in Annas and Caiaphas’ rejection of Jesus Christ in 33 AD) has been the subject on this blog for many months, and the following list gives a sample of the evidence:

It is abundantly clear that Francis is simply not a Catholic. He believes that the Jewish religion is valid before God — not, mind you, the religion of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, which was valid in its day and which has since flowered into Catholicism, but rather the religion of Annas and Caiaphas, which rejects the Divine Savior as a diabolical, blaspheming usurper!

May God have mercy on “the faithless Jews: that Our Lord and God may lift the covering off their hearts, so that they may acknowledge Jesus Christ Our Lord” (Good Friday Liturgy) and so come to the knowledge of Redemption and, by the grace of God, eventually salvation.

This is what all the saints labored for: the conversion of sinners — including Jews — to the True Faith and their perseverance in Faith, hope, and charity until the end of their lives so they can attain to eternal bliss in Heaven. We have a very beautiful concrete example in St. Vincent Ferrer, who entered a synagogue with a crucifix and preached the Gospel to the Jews assembled there, converting all of them and converting the synagogue into a Catholic church (see Scan 1 and Scan 2 of the book St. Vincent Ferrer by Fr. Andrew Pradel, OP [London: Washbourne, 1875], pp. 287-288). The book can be read for free online at this link.

Another extremely inspiring and wonderful example is the miraculous conversion of the 19th-century secular Jew Marie-Alphonse Ratisbonne. He was converted from being a virulent anti-Catholic to becoming a Catholic priest, through an apparition by Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal. His brother Marie-Theodore had already converted to Catholicism before him, and was ordained to the priesthood as well. Both convert priest brothers worked for the conversion of the Jews to the Catholic Faith. (You can read the book The Conversion of Marie-Alphonse Ratisbonne online here or purchase a paperback copy here.)

Two notable converts from Judaism in more recent times are former Socialist David Goldstein (d. 1958) and the former Chief Rabbi of Rome, Israel Zolli (d. 1956). Goldstein became a so-called Campaigner for Christ and produced several apologetical writings to help people convert to the Catholic Church, such as Letters of a Hebrew-Catholic to Mr. Isaacs (1943) and What Say You? (1945). Rabbi Israel Zolli converted to Catholicism shortly after World War II and took as his baptismal name Eugenio, in honor of Pope Pius XII (Eugenio Pacelli), who had had no small share in Zolli’s conversion. The former chief rabbi’s journey to the True Religion is recounted in his autobiography Before the Dawn (1953).

All of this doesn’t exactly sound like what you’ve been hearing about the Catholic Faith and the Jewish religion from the Vatican II Church, now does it? No, today’s Jews aren’t Catholics’ “elder brothers in the Faith”, nor is there any spiritual bond whatsoever between the Catholic religion and the Jewish religion. And today’s Jews are most definitely not God’s Chosen People. This is Catholic dogma. It is not up for correction, revision, or discussion.

But Francis instead believes that “the Jews have kept their faith in God,” as he wrote in his letter to Eugenio Scalfari, the apostate (Catholic-turned-atheist) former editor of La Repubblica. Be sure to see Catholic Bishop Donald Sanborn’s response to this heretical statement as he takes Francis to task in his September 2013 Seminary Newsletter (PDF).

With all this, it is no surprise that Jorge Bergoglio should make it into The Forward‘s List of 2013’s Most Important American Jews. “Congratulations”, Your Phoniness.

We shall conclude with the second part of the prayer for the conversion of the Jews which Holy Church prays every year in her Good Friday liturgy:

Almighty and eternal God, who dost not exclude from thy mercy even Jewish faithlessness: hear our prayers, which we offer for the blindness of that people; that acknowledging the light of thy Truth, which is Christ, they may be delivered from their darkness. Through the same our Lord Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.

For “[w]hosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father” (1 Jn 2:23), because “every spirit that dissolveth Jesus, is not of God” (1 Jn 4:3).

Mr. Bergoglio (right), wearing a yarmulke, happily participating in the sacred rite of a false religion, an act of apostasy

Reality Check:

On Sins against the First Commandment – Superstition:“God may be wrongly worshiped either by false worship or by superfluous worship being paid Him. . . . The ceremonies and practices of the Jewish religion signified that the Messiah was to come, and so now, after the coming of Our Lord, they could not be employed without superstition [=false worship]. Inasmuch as falsehood in religion is a grave injury to God, this species of superstition is mortally sinful.”
–Fr. Thomas Slater, S.J.,A Manual of Moral Theology, vol. 1, 3rd ed., Benziger Brothers, 1908, pp. 215-216; bold print added for emphasis.